Shell Game
EARLIER: Elita One gestures to the schematics of Cuprahex Sensor Outpost. "Here's how this is going to go down." A holographic map pans down to the underbelly of the outpost. "Team 2, Jazz's team consisting of himself, First Aid , Twin Twist and Blurr will infiltrate the shield generator's area. This information was found during Hound and Blurr's recon of the area. Unfortunately, they also set off several alarms in the area, and the Con forces have to know our basic objective. We're going to have a fight on our hands, and if that shield doesn't get dropped, we've no chance of taking the Outpost at all." The map pans back, "However with the recent activity at Magnaron, I'm sure they can't devote all their resources here. On the off chance they do, we bolt back into the underground, and try to mount an offensive out there. On top of this, Grimlock and the Dinobots have volunteered to take out a supply base 30 miles west of Cuprahex. We split forces and conquer. Since we have multiple targets, we can swap our focus if need be. As the humans call it, a shell game." She motions to outside the hologram of Cuprahex. "After Grimlock and the Dinobots attack, Twin Twist leads Team 2 into the underground, if they are successful, we'll catch the Con forces with their afts in the air. We'll come up from the elevator network from beneath the area. It doesn't put us on top of the Outpost, but close enough to mount an assault." Arrows glisten on the map showing escape routes, "If we are outpowered, we have three exit strategies to work with, memorize them, get your frequencies and your clocks calibrated." NOW:The Autobot strike team waits in the bowels of Cybertron itself. Filling out the force, enabling it the size necessary to take and hold Cuprahex is Junker Squadron-A Junkion support team filled with such colorful names as Hoop-D, Leh-mon and Clunker, also Elita One's own Titan Squadron-Heavily armored melee gumbies with tower shields able to help dissuade incoming fire. In the back is a disc shaped ion cannon in its transport mode. Conjectured to be able to deal good damage to the Cuprahex shield, this energon hog is the backup weapon if needed. Darkness fills the tunnels, only optics and faint red lights used to proceed. Two drone sensors bob warily as well. <> The drills on the white Jumpstarter spin to life, << Bout time, I've been itchin to tear into some Deceptichops for ages! Hold on to your tailgates!>> A few minutes pass. Over the channel, Elita One is heard again, <> Grimlock eagerly responds, <> A pause in the transmission. <> That's the problem with briefing rooms. Too small! Entirely too small. And beyond that? These hiding tunnels. Half of the Sky Lynx, namely...the Lynx, is hunkered down doing what he does best as a transport, shifting about restlessly as he listens to the comms. "Hmph...you do realize Grimlock will not pull back when asked, yes? I do hope you're not going to ask me to find them when they get lost behind enemy lines." He shakes his head, pausing a moment. Higher overhead? Well beyond where standard anti-aircraft weaponry will strike, a solitary shuttle flies along, tracking the 'diversion' fight while relaying the imagery back to Elita One and Sky Lynx. "They do seem to be having quite a good time, too. I do believe Sludge just trampled someone into the ground." CON SIDE: <> The line goes static moments later. The question befalls Galvatron's right hand...The Outpost is expected to be under assault, given that recon mission, but attacks are going on miles away. What orders will he give his troops? Blades is ready to go! Go deep into Decepticon lines? Sounds like Blades's cup of probably drugged energon! It's a target rich environment, collateral damage is encouraged, and there's no such thing as civilian casualties. He just gives a nod as Elita One outlines her plans, and as for Sky Lynx's concerns? ...Grimlock will be fine. The Protectobots may worry about everyone, but... Grimlock really doesn't need much worry. Really. CON SIDE: Cuprahex Sensor Outpost, near the runs of Nightseige was a victim of an Autobot recon mission, fielded by Blurr and Hound. The two managed to slip in close, and cause chaos. Fortunately Ravage, Weirdwolf and Laserbeak held the line, and kept the two at bay. Unfortunately though, Blurr managed to get inside for a brief time, and in response, Ravage detonated a bomb. The repairs are still ongoing, leaving the sensors twitchy and sporadic. In short, vulnerable. The day is long, the duty is benign and dull. Another team of Cons, lead by Contrail are on generator guard duty, which leaves the group here and the gumbies about, the main line of defense...Of course with the powerful shield, no assault could ever take Cuprahex. Support Outpost 3's comm crackles to life, the gumby Exposition raises his head, "Lord Cyclonus, we've got an incoming transmission! Patching through." <> The line goes static moments later. The question befalls Galvatron's right hand...The Outpost is expected to be under assault, given that recon mission, but attacks are going on miles away. What orders will he give his troops? Elita One says, "Sky Lynx, I know Grimlock's capability all too well, I doubt he'll have any trouble, but Twin Twist will be en route for evac if he gets bored." Sky Lynx says, "Grimlock, bored? Only if he runs out of targets." Elita One says, "Blades, I'm going to hand off a security spike to you. I've got one as well, if the shield comes down, if either of us make it inside the shield, there's a long twisting pipe off to the side that you should jam that into." Cyclonus glares sternly at Exposition. "Those wretched Dinobots! If they breach the munitions bay they'll set off a chain reaction in the materials stored there--and likely emerge unscathed! Assemble squadrons Beta, Gamma, and Tango for attack--" As he says this he looks at a datapad of the Decepticon roster. "--what? Who misspelled 'Squadron?' I'll have him flayed! I will not tolerate illiteracy in official documents!" A few Sweeps and Seekers behind him cower, thinking that Cyclonus might blame them. The space warrior turns around, glaring at the non-NPC Decepticons that are with him. "You two! You will also accompany me! Remember the Dinobots are most dangerous in close combat, so strike them from above as much as possible!" And on that note, Cyclonus steps out of the outpost, and wastes no time transforming to respond to the call for help. "DECEPTICONS! We will not let the Autobots destroy what is ours! Succeed or you will wish you had!" Frenzy has arrived. Cyclonus flips forward ninety degrees, limbs folding up and a nosecone snaps down across his head. Wings emerge from his sides and Cyclonus is now in his powerful space fighter mode! Sky Lynx says, "I daresay, is that Cyclonus...departing?" Elita One says, "Cyclonus? good. last thing we need is him on site" Sky Lynx says, "Oh, apologies... I forgot, not everyone can have eyes in the sky like myself. I will relay the visual feed... wait one moment." Combat: Starfighter inspires Cybertronian Turbo-Thrust Jet Fighter and Weirdwolf with noble and lofty words! Meanwhile Weirdwolf has been taking advantage of his.. well Monzo's.. well *their* promotion, for lack of confusion. For as much lack of confusion you can get with Weirdwolf involved. He's got a large portion of of guard forces not on patrol lined up outside the sensor outpost, pacing back and forth as he goes over them one by one. Occasionally one gets kicked in the leg for not standing at proper attention, another gets suckerpunched in the side when he's not paying attention. "Ugh, it's gonna take dekacycles to get these jobbers whipped into any sort of shape," Monzo grouses from within the -master's head. "A band of blind jiggalos would be more effective at strikin' fear into the enemy's core." Pause. Weirdwolf shudders slightly at the shared thought. "Granted, just creepy in general are jiggalos," Weirdwolf comments. Considering what happened last time just before that infiltration mission, one can understand why Bootlegger and Ridgerun are trying to not cower too obviously at the end of the line. In fact, Weirdwolf is just walking up to them, pausing to narrow eyes at their quivering. A core boring glare that, unfortunately, is interrupted by Cyclonus storming out before he can actually rip into them. Promptly Weirdwolf turns to the rest of the lineup. "Heard the Commander did you. Don't just idle there, away up up and go!" But just as they start to follow Weirdwolf holds up his arm to stop Bootlegger and Ridgerun. "Not so fast there you two putzs. Yer still on punishment detail!" "And punishment best to warrior race is denying the change of glory at." "Yeah what he said. So go clean the oil change stalls or somethin'." With a sneer Weirdwolf turns to follow Cyclonus away. Ridgerun and Bootleg look at each other with about as much trepidation as they did before. "... Excuse to hide in the stalls?" "Sounds good to me." Triggerhappy has been hanging around Cuprahex for a bit, hoping that something interesting would happen, like a fight or something fun to shoot. Unfortunately for him, he'd been reassigned to take charge of a unit near Munitions Bay 2 right before Blurr and Hound had made their infiltration attempt at the central complex. He always hates it when he misses a chance to shoot things. Always. But, FINALLY! THe Dinobots attack Munitions Bay 2. The fraggin' Dinobots. Now if there's something in the entirety of the galaxy that's awesome to shoot at, it's Dinobots. Huge, stupid, and best of all, easy to hit and capable of taking multiple hits before they become boring targets (that is, die or get stasis locked). Needless to say, Triggerhappy is having the time of his life shooting at anything and everything that moves, so it's one of the gumby seekers on his squad who finally ends up calling for backup instead of him. In fact, the Targetmaster appears to hardly even notice when Cyclons shows up. It seems he has a lot of pent-up shooting to do... The Autobot team does their waiting as Twin Twist delivers Team 2 in beneath the Outpost in a two pronged assault. Moments later, over the channel, alarm systems are heard << Is that alarms I hear?>> Elita One responds, <> The always cool Jazz responds. <> <> Elita slaps the elevator button, sending the mass of Autobots up, "Look sharp Bots, its system check time." She checks her rifle as the doors above split apart, then puts it away. A few moments later the strike team hits the surface, Cuprahex in the distance, about 4 miles. Elita One transforms into her tech-car mode, towards the outpost. "Roll out, Bots!" MEANWHILE: Foreshadow squints at his display, "I'm getting strange vibration readings, they're subterranian." Alarms start to blare, instruments flash out displays. Exposition stands, getting on the comm system, <> Pictures of the Autobot forces approaching are fed into the PC Cons optics for verification. Gumby squads instantly start to take up defensive positions to protect the outpost, rifles readied, and bunkers sheltered. Foreshadow shakes his head, <> The Lynx-Shuttle Eye-in-the-sky cruises through the upper layers of Cyberton's atmosphere, tracking the mass departure of Cyclonus and Company. < I daresay, is that Cyclonus...departing? Oh, apologies. I forgot. Not everyone can have eyes in the sky like myself. I will relay the visual feed. Wait one moment. > In the tunnels, the Lynx-Lynx transmits the overhead view to the assault team present so they can witness Grimlock's mighty gift of destruction, and the mass evacuation of their primary opposition. "How wonderfully advantageous. I do believe that opens our window of opportunity, Elita One." The Lynx tenses in anticipation. From below Cuprahex, in the reactor guard's squad Ravage comes over the Decepticon channel<> Blades does a check on his flashlight and his blades, quiet in the elevator. Once on the surface, he transforms, which makes him considerably more noisy. Hopefully he'll be there quick enough that it won't matter too much. Blades transforms into his Bell UH-1V Iroquois mode. Starfighter immediately transmits, upon learning the bad news, <> He watches the ongoing fracas below as swarms of Decepticon fliers strafe the Dinobots. <> To himself, he grumbles, "Autobot fools. Your diversion merely bought you SECONDS!" And that's when he sees something rather large in the sky above. "Hm." Cyclonus pulls up, and tries to get behind the object, and, once visually confirming his suspicions, opens fire. "SKY LYNX! Did you really think I wouldn't see your BULK up there? What game are you wretched Autobots up to this time?" Sky Lynx says, "Uh oh... Incoming. Mind the video feed from above." Elita One says, "Too much to hope for that Cyclonus would be out of the way, alright, brace for airborne threats" Combat: Starfighter misses Dino-Bird and Robot Lynx with his Forward Weapons Array (Laser) attack! First one way, then the other way! Sheesh. Some people just can't make up their minds. But this is one of those times that it's good that Weirdwolf doesn't have a fancy fast flight mode, so he's not got so much backtracking back to Cuprahex to do. Upon doing so he drops to the ground and reverts to wolf mode. Then hunkers down behind a stack of crates, Monzo standing on his shoulders just enough to peek over the top. "Well just let the mooks take the first wave, and find someone to pick off once they're distracted with that." Weirdwolf's only reply is a partially muffled snarling chuckle. Weirdwolf drops to the ground, landing on all fours as a robotic beast. Combat: Mecha Wolf sets his defense level to Guarded. You send a radio message to Blades: I'm going to hand off a security spike to you. I've got one as well, if the shield comes down, if either of us make it inside the shield, there's a long twisting pipe off to the side that you should jam that into. You receive a radio message from Blades: You... want me to jame a spike in a pipe. Rodger that. You send a radio message to Blades: Just be sure you've got the right one, I'm sure others are power conduits for the outpost. Triggerhappy is blasting away at Dinobots and waves of Autobots, but finally notices Cyclonus when the second-in-command gives him a direct order. "Back toward Cuprahex it is!" And unlike Weirdwolf, Triggerhappy does have an awesomely fast flight mode. Thus, he uses to follow Cyclonus and the rest of them. Combat: Cybertronian Turbo-Thrust Jet Fighter sets his defense level to Guarded. Soon, Blurr questions over the comm, <> It takes a moment, but Grimlock is heard on the line too, <> The team goes dark after Jazz' report<> Elita One swerves past a rocky outcropping, kicking up dust, the Titan squad with her, each one transformed into a flatbed truck, the beds made of their tough shields. "This could've started off better...and with that shield up, we're sitting ducks. I see an outcropping up ahead, we'll pick off some fliers while we give Jazz some time." With that she drives up a small hill to where a shuttle must've nosedived into the planet, then transforms into a rolling crouch behind some of the wall. "Sky Lynx, we'll keep Cyclonus occupied. Everyone else, start clearing the skies." Combat: Pink Techcar sets her defense level to Protected. The shuttle watches the sudden turn-around by Cyclonus and his sweeps. <> The Lynx springs out of hiding to transfer the combat-load of gumbies to swarm Cuprahex. "Transferring to my better half! ...though, they are both better...hmm. The Lynx is in autonomous control! We have incoming!" As the Lynx follows through with delivery, the optical visor on the shuttle comes to life as it transforms into a more recognizable bird-esque...thing... "Hah! Cyclonus? Is that you? For a moment I thought it was Starscream!" He rolls to avoid getting hit, emitting only the best of mocking chuckles. "Missed me! ...are you certain you're not Starscream?" Wings fold in as the Lynx dives towards the Decepticon aerial leader. "As for what we are doing? Why...beating you, of course!" He strafes Cyclonus and some of his sweeps with a healthy dose of laser fire in return. Combat: Dino-Bird and Robot Lynx sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Dino-Bird and Robot Lynx strikes Starfighter with his Laser Blast (Laser) attack! Bell UH-1V Iroquois soon enough sees Triggerhappy waaaay above him in the air. That won't do! Time to bring that sky-jock down to the ground... the hard way. (The hard way, however, is not the fun way.) Actually, this is more the explosive way? Whatever. Blades shoots at Triggerhappy with a rocket. Combat: Bell UH-1V Iroquois strikes Cybertronian Turbo-Thrust Jet Fighter with his Armor-Piercing Smart Rocket attack! -2 Sky Lynx says, "I do believe I irritated Cyclonus." The Reactor team reports in, <> Ravage adds, <> Blades says, "That's good, torque him off and he'll get sloppy." Elita One says, "I'm not so sure of that, anger fuels his master, undoubtably it does the same for him. I'll have you covered in a moment, Lynx" Blades says, "Anger fuels Galvaclown. /Boot-licking/ fuels Cyclonus." Elita One says, "*a stifled laugh*" Blades says, "Hey, yeah, I bet if you throw some footwear at him, he'll have to pause to clean it off with his mouth!" Sky Lynx says, "Hahah! I will keep that in mind!" Monzo ducks back down and motions a bit to Weirdwolf, the lupine nodding in return as the Nebulan ducks down against his back. While gumbies charge to their likely deaths save the two whom took their 'punishiment detail' as an excuse to hide in a maintenance closet somewhere, Weirdwolf creeps around the stake of crates and slinks off behind the ruins of a wall. Once on the move his sensative sensors pick up the faint trail of cybertronian exhaust, following it until he's crouching on the opposite side of the wall as Elita is. Monzo grabs onto the top of the rubble and pulls himself up, hunkers down on top long enough to peak over... then attempts to jump down ontop Elita with an elbow drop like the hyperwrestler he was. "Yaaaah!" Meanwhile Weirdwolf continues to stalk along, moving to slink around the end of the section of wall and try to come up behind her while Monzo has her hopefully distracted. Triggerhappy is blasted by a rocket from Blades. It knocks him off his flight course as it explodes against his armor, sending him spinning off in a random direction for a few astroseconds. But the Targetmaster is not much the worse for wear, and he manages to regain control, flying back toward Blades from behind. "Hahaha! Finally, some real fun!" he cackles, and directs his photon pulse weapons at the Protectobot. Combat: Mecha Wolf sets his defense level to Neutral. Combat: Cybertronian Turbo-Thrust Jet Fighter sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Mecha Wolf misses Pink Techcar with his Off The Top Rope! (Punch) attack! Combat: Mecha Wolf (Weirdwolf) used "Punch": A Level 1 MELEE attack. Combat: Cybertronian Turbo-Thrust Jet Fighter misses Bell UH-1V Iroquois with his Photon-Pulse Guns attack! -2 Starfighter had a very bad experience with Starscream back in the past, so being compared to him has him absolutely incensed. "You DARE compare me to that... CREATURE!" he seethes, so enraged by the remarks that he barely even feels the lasers scoring his hull. In retaliation, he passes Sky Lynx, whips back around towards the Dino-Bird, and pumps more power into his weapons array as he fires again, knowing that the best way to take down such a huge opponent is from the inside! "You haven't beaten us, yet, Sky Lynx!" Cyclonus growls. Then he gets the transmission from Ravage, and replies, << I'm engaging Sky Lynx, now, Ravage! No doubt the Autobots plan to use him as a getaway!" Sky Lynx says, "Oh, yes. Totally made him mad..." Combat: Starfighter sets his defense level to Aggressive. Combat: Starfighter strikes Dino-Bird and Robot Lynx with his Oxidizing Laser attack! -3 Combat: That attack has temporarily impaired Dino-Bird and Robot Lynx 's Agility. (Crippled) Dino-Bird and Robot Lynx grunts as he's blasted, internal warnings flashing across his HUD. "Sod off, you hear? You'd be better grounding yourself before I tear your wings off, you know!" He rolls into a dive to take things low. "Hahah, you fly like a novice. All weapons, no brains or skill! I could take you through a trench and let the rocks do the work for me, I'd wager!" He rolls belly-up in his dive to throw a blast of fire behind him to catch the, as he sees it, inevitably following Cyclonus. Meanwhile, the gumby-swarm departs their Lynxmobile, immediately taking the fight to the ground defenses as they move to cordon off the entrance to Cuprahex. Of course, with the shield operable, it would seem like a very futile move. Combat: Dino-Bird and Robot Lynx sets his defense level to Guarded. Bell UH-1V Iroquois ably evades Triggerhappy's shots, because guns are for chumps! Yes! Really, he just hovers down, because helicopters do that. "...was that a photon-pulse gun? Are they handing these things out like candy now, is that it? Needlenose's is better! You know where you can put yours? Right up your blowpipe!" Blades tries to transform and land on Triggerhappy to, well, try to tear off Triggerhappy's gun and jam it up his afterburner. Bell UH-1V Iroquois transforms into his Blades mode. Combat: Dino-Bird and Robot Lynx strikes Starfighter with his Bird Breath attack! Combat: Blades strikes Cybertronian Turbo-Thrust Jet Fighter with his Not Where That Peg Goes (Punch) attack! Pink Techcar readies her shot against Cyclonus, eager to take out the enemy commander. Long megacycles of sabotage and guerrila work had trained her to aim for the head. Cyclonus could fall, and then the others. Triggerhappy and...who was it? "Yaaaah!" She turns in time to see a Headmaster try to catch her unaware with an elbow drop. With her greater size, she steps backwards cautiously. "What in blazes...Ugh, headmasters." She pauses, judging the refrain in her voice, "Con headmasters." She corrects. "How about you go fight someone that is more your size, like a trash compactor?" Elita swings her cannon at Mongo like it were a large club, intent to knock him off his feet. Combat: Pink Techcar strikes Mecha Wolf with her The butt of the joke (Kick) attack! Combat: Drained 2 energon. The futuristic car breaks open in the middle, as the legs form upward. Her hood shifts into her armor plating with her arms coming together at the last, turning into Elita One's robot mode. <> First Aid asks, Jazz replies coolly, <> Elita adds to the conversation, <> Monzo lands on the ground when Elita jukes out of the way and turns towards the femme to follow up... only to get clonked with her cannon and tumble against the wall from the blow. "Heh heh heh heh." Wait, why is he laughing? Maybe because that's when Weirdwolf pounces after the pink wonder has turned to club him. More your size, indeed. Though as usual Weirdwolf can't keep his trap shut as he leaps at Elita. "WELCOME TO DIE!" Combat: Mecha Wolf sets his defense level to Fearless. Combat: Mecha Wolf strikes Elita One with his Where's the one the other isn't far behind attack! Combat: Mecha Wolf (Weirdwolf) used "Air Wolf": A Level 3 MELEE attack. Combat: You took 8 damage. Starfighter seems to take the roiling flames pretty well, given that his nosecone is built to withstand re-entry, but Cyclonus nevertheless begins to realize that Sky Lynx must surely be baiting him. And where'd the other half of him get off to, anyway? "Your insults are PATHETIC," Cyclonus sneers as he pulls away, and as he swoops back over the battlefield, he spots the Lynx half of his foe deploying troops! "As are your attempts to divert me from your purpose, Sky Lynx!" The space warrior drops down low, bomb bay doors opening. "I do enjoy it when Autobots huddle together for safety," he says, "It makes it easier to INCINERATE them!" And he drops an incendiary bomb right on the Lynx and the troops around him! Can they get to cover in time? Combat: Starfighter strikes Dino-Bird and Robot Lynx with his Incendiary Bombs attack! -6 Elita One says, "wait, where's his....Ooof!" Sky Lynx says, "Slag it all! He is after the ground forces... Diverting back to my me...er...other me. Gah, you get the idea." Several members of Junker squad take explosive hits, knocking them into pieces. Some of the troops start to pull themselves together afterwards...good ole Junkions, but the incendiary attack has done a strong job of keeping them down. Triggerhappy doesn't exactly have time to notice that he missed Blades (not that he really cares to, anyway) before the Protectobot lunges at him, attempting to grab Blowpipe and shove him up the Targetmaster's afterburners! And succeeds. Alas, poor Blowpipe. Being binary-bonded to a psychopath, he's used to a lot of slag. But THIS kind of slag? No. Just, no. "OH THAT DOES IT!" he yells, and the guns goes off INSIDE of Triggerhappy in an attempt to shoot at Blades. "The frag Blowpipe?!" Triggerhappy cries out. Yeah, that hurt just a little bit more than the rocket. "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" he shouts, which could have been directed at the Autobot or the Nebulan. Probably both. "Ha, you think you're so clever, Autoscum?" he continues. "Say 'hello' to the ground!" He then flies straight at the ground, attempting to take Blades along with him and smash him into the metal terrain. Combat: Cybertronian Turbo-Thrust Jet Fighter strikes Blades with his Say 'Hello' to the GROUND! (Smash) attack! Dino-Bird and Robot Lynx watches as Cyclonus breaks away to attack him...er, his other self. <> He accelerates, giving chase before the optics on his bird-half dim, those on his lynx-self flaring to life. A quick systems check is dismissed in favor of action. With everyone disembarked, Lynx takes a jump for the force-field, using the repulsion effect to surge after Cyclonus to take a nasty bite out of the ugly. "Get your aft back here, I'm not through with you yet!" He gives a quick chomp for that trailing wingtip. Combat: Dino-Bird and Robot Lynx strikes Starfighter with his Lynx Leap attack! Elita One is tackled by Weirdwolf from behind. 'Stupid careless move', she struggles, rolling with the attack to at least turn around properly. She pushes against him, then with her gun out of reach, she at bashes him in the head repeatedly with her elbow, "Get off me, you second rate...whatever you are!" Elita One manages to get her foot under her, as she attempts to launch Weirdwolf off of her into the scrapwall. Combat: Elita One misses Mecha Wolf with her A Woman Scorned attack! Combat: Drained 5 energon. Blades is only too delighted to be crashed into the ground by his impromptu ride. Grinning like a madman, the Protectobot extricates himself from the crash, something he usually does to other people rather than himself, and replies, "What's wrong with me is that I haven't cut you into four pieces yet! Hahahah, what a silly mistake, right?" See, jets that decide to crash themselves itno the ground are just so VULNERABLE. Blades whips out one of his namesake and tries to go to town. Combat: Blades strikes Cybertronian Turbo-Thrust Jet Fighter with his Rotor Blade attack! -3 Combat: Cybertronian Turbo-Thrust Jet Fighter falls to the ground, unconscious. (to be concluded)